Dem operative predicts Senate control shift due to GOP candidate quality
Dan Turrentine cited several states and specific Republican candidates as vulnerable.
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Republican candidate quality and the fight for Senate control. | Next News Editorial Illustration
Photograph: Next News Network (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Democratic operative Dan Turrentine stated Democrats have a good chance to retake the Senate.
- Turrentine cited close races in North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Texas, Kansas, and Missouri.
- He identified specific Republican candidates in Texas, Mississippi, Kansas, and South Carolina as potentially vulnerable.
- Turrentine suggested that weak candidate quality is a significant factor in the GOP's potential loss of the Senate.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 7 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
60/100
Craft
65/100
Hype
45/100
7 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
None of the 7 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Democratic operative Dan Turrentine has predicted that his party has a strong possibility of regaining control of the Senate. Turrentine, a former chief of staff to Colorado Governor Jared Polis, stated that Democrats have a "pretty good chance to retake the Senate" with five days remaining before the election. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate.
Turrentine pointed to North Carolina, where he noted polls show former Governor Roy Cooper leading Republican Michael Whatley for the seat vacated by retiring Republican Senator Thom Tillis. He also highlighted surprisingly close races in Ohio and Michigan, as well as in traditionally Republican states like Texas, Kansas, and Missouri. Turrentine specifically named Ken Paxton in Texas, Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi, Roger Marshall in Kansas, and Darlene Graham Nordone in South Carolina as potentially vulnerable Republican candidates. He stated that if Republicans lose the Senate, it is likely due to losses in one of these four races, attributing the potential outcome to "weak candidate quality" in addition to the president's standing.
Turrentine acknowledged that past surveys have sometimes overstated support for the Democratic party and that reaching voters is increasingly difficult. He also noted that campaigns are concerned about polling accuracy. The New York Ledger also reported Turrentine's comments on the Alaska Senate race, where he suggested it could become a tossup, and discussed internal party tensions regarding the direction of the party should they gain a majority.
Disagreement on candidate names
The New York Ledger and other outlets citing its report identified Ken Paxton as a vulnerable Republican candidate in Texas. However, the Next News Network, in its full report, named Ken Paxton as a potentially vulnerable candidate in Texas, but also listed Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi, Roger Marshall in Kansas, and Darlene Graham Nordone in South Carolina. The Fox News digest mentioned Turrentine citing poor Republican candidate quality in Texas, Ohio, and North Carolina, but did not list specific candidates.
What the coverage left out
None of the right-rated reports below mention Dan Turrentine's acknowledgement that previous surveys have overstated support for the Democratic party. The New York Ledger, rated centre, did include this detail from Turrentine.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 4 times, most recently on 1 Nov 2026, 12:00, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated left has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Centre
1 rated outlet
- The centre-rated report from The New York Ledger led with the prediction of Democrats seizing Senate control due to subpar Republican candidates. It quoted Turrentine stating Democrats have a "pretty good chance to retake the Senate" and detailed his reasoning, including specific states like North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Texas, Kansas, and Missouri. The report also mentioned Turrentine identifying Ken Paxton in Texas, Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi, Roger Marshall in Kansas, and Darlene Graham Nordone in South Carolina as vulnerable. The New York Ledger also included Turrentine's comments on the Alaska Senate race and internal Democratic party dynamics.
Right
6 rated outlets
- The right-rated reports, including the full report from Next News Network, focused on the Democratic operative's admission that weak GOP candidates could lead to a Senate loss. Next News Network's headline stated, "DEM OPERATIVE ADMITS: Weak GOP Candidates Could Hand Dems the Senate." The report quoted Turrentine saying, "Five days out, Democrats have a pretty good chance to retake the Senate," and highlighted his identification of specific vulnerable Republican candidates: Ken Paxton in Texas, Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi, Roger Marshall in Kansas, and Darlene Graham Nordone in South Carolina. Next News Network framed Turrentine's comments as a "roadmap from the other side" and a warning Republicans should take seriously, concluding that if Republicans lose the Senate, "the blame won't land on a poll or a media hit job. It will land on the seats Republicans refused to lock down."
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Dem operative predicts Senate control shift due to GOP candidate quality?
- Of the 7 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 14% are rated centre, 86% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Dem operative predicts Senate control shift due to GOP candidate quality left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 7 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Dem operative predicts Senate control shift due to GOP candidate quality biased?
- Dem operative predicts Senate control shift due to GOP candidate quality is one event reported by 7 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Dem operative predicts Senate control shift due to GOP candidate quality?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Dem operative predicts Senate control shift due to GOP candidate quality?
- 7 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- Who is Dan Turrentine and what did he predict?
- Dan Turrentine is a Democratic operative and former chief of staff to Colorado Governor Jared Polis. He predicted that Democrats have a strong chance to retake the Senate in the upcoming elections, citing weak Republican candidate quality as a significant factor.
- Which states did Turrentine identify as having close Senate races?
- Turrentine cited North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Texas, Kansas, and Missouri as states with close Senate races that could determine control of the Senate. He specifically mentioned North Carolina as a seat that could flip to Democratic control.
- Which Republican candidates did Turrentine identify as vulnerable?
- Turrentine identified specific Republican candidates as potentially vulnerable. These included Ken Paxton in Texas, Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi, Roger Marshall in Kansas, and Darlene Graham Nordone in South Carolina. He suggested that losses among these candidates could lead to Republicans losing the Senate majority.
Read it at the source
7 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Centre
1Right
6- DEM OPERATIVE ADMITS: Weak GOP Candidates Could Hand Dems the Senate (opens Next News Network in a new tab)
Next News Network — is Next News Network biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Veteran Dem operative says subpar GOP candidates poised to hand over Senate majority - NEW YORK TIMES POST (opens nytimespost.com in a new tab)
nytimespost.com — is nytimespost.com biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- Veteran Dem operative says subpar GOP candidates poised to hand over Senate majority (opens WVII / Fox Bangor in a new tab)
WVII / Fox Bangor — is WVII / Fox Bangor biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- Veteran Dem operative says subpar GOP candidates poised to hand over Senate majority (opens wfmd.com in a new tab)
wfmd.com — is wfmd.com biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- Veteran Dem operative says subpar GOP candidates poised to hand over Senate majority – Democratic Accent (opens democraticaccent.com in a new tab)
democraticaccent.com — is democraticaccent.com biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- Veteran Dem operative says subpar GOP candidates poised to hand over Senate majority (opens Fox News in a new tab)
Fox News — is Fox News biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
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